Chances Are
by abbyli
Summary: A year after a messy divorce, Bonnie finally wins custody of her and Damon's tiny daughter. That following night, Damon tries to commit suicide. Bonnie makes the decision to take him in, hoping that she can help him get better so they can both heal.


**title: **Chances Are

**summary: **A year after a messy divorce, Bonnie finally wins custody of her and Damon's tiny daughter. Two weeks later, Damon tries to commit suicide. Bonnie makes the decision to take him in, hoping that she can help him get better so they can both heal.

**pairings: **bamon, featuring steroline

**rating: **t for the moment. could change to m later.

**disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**notes: **The title of this is after the amazing song by Five for Fighting I have no idea why. :P Anyway, this story could have a trigger warning for some mentions of domestic abuse that don't actually occur and also, obviously, a suicide attempt. It doesn't go into graphic detail but just a heads up.

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_**prologue**_

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Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore finds herself slowly walking down a long, kind of dingy hallway, to an apartment located right at the end of the corridor. Just as she reaches, she raises her knuckles to rap lightly on the balsa wood and hesitates for a split second.

Today was a dark day in her mind.

Yes, it was also a good day. She was finally going to be taking her daughter home to be with her. After a messy divorce and even messier custody battle that had dragged on for nearly six months, both she and Damon quite desperate and their tiny daughter refusing to choose between them, she had finally been awarded full custody of the nearly five year old child.

Mollie Antonia Salvatore was a lot like her in many ways. She looked just like Damon, inheriting his grey eyes, tangled raven hair, jutted nose, and pale skin but she was so much like Bonnie that it scared her. It also explained why she butted heads with the five year old so many times. Damon used to joke-_Damon..._

Which leads her to today.

Bonnie finally raps on the door, letting her hand fall to her side after three taps. She hears Damon's quiet invite moments later and gently pushes the door open.

Her eyes scan the apartment before falling to rest on her husband-er, _ex-_husband sitting on the floor in front of the couch, his tongue tucked in the corner of his lips in concentration as he worked to screw the head back on one of Mollie's barbie dolls.

"Oh, dear. Another tantrum?" Bonnie asks softly.

Damon looks up at her and she startles slightly, noticing for the first time just how exhausted he looks. Sure, she feels the same away but she makes a bigger effort to cover up her dark circles and takes Advil to help thud away the pounding headaches. She's only twenty nine, she's not ready to look forty yet.

Her eyes fall on the capped bourbon bottles that sit on the table in front of him. A quick intake of breath and she forces herself to look back at the husband that she had lost.

Damon nods just as a loud _pop _fills the air, alerting them to the fact that the Barbie's head was back in place. He twists it to the front and runs a finger down it's blond tresses.

"Yeah, she got a little huffy when she found out that she had left Candy Land over at your house so she took it out on Babs here," Damon says softly, slowly pulling himself to his feet.

"Why didn't you call me?" Bonnie asks. "I would have brought it over."

"I offered to do that but Mollie said no." He doesn't have to continue for Bonnie to know what's going to come after.

"Damon-"

"Mommy!"

The brunette turns around in time to catch the armful of child just as she throws herself into Bonnie's arms.

"Hey, baby!" Bonnie says, a smile creasing her lips for the first time in days. She brushes back her daughter's unruly curls to get a look into those blue eyes that are so freakishly like her father's that it scares her. "Did you have fun this weekend?"

Mollie nods happily. "Yes, Daddy made chocolate chip pancakes this morning!"

Bonnie shoots a dirty look at Damon over the top of Mollie's head. "Oh, he did?"

"Yes and he made me an extra one with lots of orange juice!" The little girl babbles happily. She continues prattling on about her weekend and Bonnie only half listens, catching her husband's-uh, _ex_-husband's look before she finally has to turn away.

"Mollie, honey?" she finally interrupts. "Is your stuff ready? We need to get going."

One of those horrible, awful, absolute mind boggling, heartbreaking looks crosses her daughter's small face and she nods.

"Yes, Daddy got it ready a little while ago," Mollie says softly. "I'll get it."

Bonnie can't help the sudden tears that spring to her eyes as she watches her little girl walk slowly into her bedroom, only to return moments later with her pink backpack tucked firmly onto her tiny back and her stuffed panda bear slung under her arm. She pressed her bear into Lydia's knee and walked over to her father. Damon scooped her up and whirled her around in a tight hug, brushing his lips against her forehead.

"I will see you very soon, okay honey?" Damon whispers into her hair.

Mollie nods. "Okay, Daddy."

He sets her back on her feet and turns her around, pointing her towards her mother. Bonnie catches the toddler's fingers, chancing a glance at her ex-husband.

"We'll see you next Sunday, ok?"

Damon nods. "See you then."

She doesn't miss the sadness and the exhaustion written all over his face.

"Let's go home, Mollie."

Mollie's reply is nothing short of heartbreaking.

"Bye, Daddy."

Bonnie chances one more glance at Damon as she takes Mollie's hand in hers. She immediately regrets it.

"Take care of yourself, Damon."

When the door shuts after them, she pretends she doesn't hear Damon giving in to his sobs.

* * *

The car ride home is nothing short of awkward.

Mollie sits in the back, safely buckled into her carseat. Bonnie glances at her in the rearview mirror and sees her staring out the window, her tiny lips pursed in concentration. A raven lock falls down in her eyes and she brushes it away.

And then…

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Am I going to still live with Daddy?"

Bonnie sighes softly to herself. "No, baby. You are going to be living with me now. Daddy and I talked to you about this, remember?"

Mollie sighs herself. "Yeah."

"But you are still going to see Daddy all the time. You will see him this Sunday."

Mollie nods, her eyes narrowed. "I wish you guys still loved each other."

More pain laces her heart. Bonnie quickly brushes away a tear that falls down her cheek, a tiny sob escaping that she manages to swallow back down.

"Me too."

* * *

The phone rang at the un-godly hour of six am that next morning.

Bonnie groans, glancing at the clock on the wall before rolling over in bed. She pushes her curls out of her eyes, glaring at the ringing cell phone like it had personally wronged her before hitting the SEND button.

"Hwello?"

"Hello, is this Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore?" comes a voice on the other end that she would like to rip to pieces.

"It's just Bennett," Bonnie says. "Who is this?"

"Mrs. Salvatore—er, Bennett, this is Jackie Morgan, head nurse in the Emergency Room at Wilshire Memorial Hospital. Your husband Damon Salvatore has been admitted for a suicide attempt this morning."

And Bonnie's whole world changes.

Forever.

Now fully awake, she sits up straight in bed. "Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's stable."

"How—" Bile rises in her throat. "How did he try to do it?"

"He slashed his wrists. He was found by his neighbor and brought to the ER. The doctors have stopped the bleeding and he's been stabilized. But you are listed as his emergency contact, his only contact."

Bonnie swallows back the bile and begins to rise. "But he is all right?" she says.

"He's going to be fine but he is going to need a lot of help," Jackie replies.

"Okay…" Bonnie looks around her room for a moment, finding her purse laying discarded on the floor by the doorway. "I will be right there." With that, she hangs up her phone and begins dialing another number.

"Bonnie, do you know what time it is?"

"I'm quite aware, Caroline," Bonnie says. "I need you to come over here and watch Mollie for a few hours. I've got to get to the hospital."

"The hospital? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine but- but -"

Caroline's voice drops a few octaves, comfort starting to overlay the worry. "Bonnie, what is it?"

Bonnie gives in. "It's Damon. He's—he's been hurt and I need to go and make sure that he's all right."

Caroline doesn't ask any other questions after that. She promises not to call Stefan until they know more and within thirty minutes, she's at the apartment, all loaded up with activities for her and Mollie.

Bonnie opens the door to find her best friend standing there and within moments she is wrapped up in the tightest hug ever. She sighs, allowing herself to relax into the hug and one tear escapes.

"Call me when you know more, ok?" Caroline whispers when she finally lets Bonnie breathe.

"I will. Please, don't let Mollie know anything yet, all right? She just had to say goodbye to him and then to know that—"

The blonde holds up a hand to silence her. "I won't say anything, Bonnie. I'll just tell her that you had to run out for a few hours."

Bonnie nods. "Thanks. I will call you later."

And she's out the door, allowing it to fall shut after her with a loud thud.

* * *

The drive to the hospital is endless.

Three words ring through Bonnie's brain as she continues to drive, hot tears welling up in her eyes and spilling over.

_Please be okay. _

* * *

**Mwah! My babies!**

**That's all she wrote for now. Hope you liked and will leave me your thoughts. Lots of angst coming up but who doesn't love angst? **

**Link for Mollie Antonia Salvatore in my profile. **

**Thanks guys. Have a great and safe weekend. **


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